HISTORICAL OBSERVATIONS OF HUMPBACK AND BLUE WHALES IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN: CLUES TO MIGRATORY ROUTES AND POSSIBLY ADDITIONAL FEEDING GROUNDS
A bstract The seasonal distributions of humpback and blue whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae and Balaenoptera musculus , respectively) in the North Atlantic Ocean are not fully understood. Although humpbacks have been studied intensively in nearshore or coastal feeding and breeding areas, their migrato...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2004.tb01192.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1748-7692.2004.tb01192.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2004.tb01192.x |
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crwiley:10.1111/j.1748-7692.2004.tb01192.x 2024-04-07T07:51:18+00:00 HISTORICAL OBSERVATIONS OF HUMPBACK AND BLUE WHALES IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN: CLUES TO MIGRATORY ROUTES AND POSSIBLY ADDITIONAL FEEDING GROUNDS Reeves, Randall R. Smith, Tim D. Josephson, Elizabeth A. Clapham, Phillip J. Woolmer, Gillian 2004 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2004.tb01192.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1748-7692.2004.tb01192.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2004.tb01192.x en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Marine Mammal Science volume 20, issue 4, page 774-786 ISSN 0824-0469 1748-7692 Aquatic Science Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal-article 2004 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2004.tb01192.x 2024-03-08T03:53:03Z A bstract The seasonal distributions of humpback and blue whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae and Balaenoptera musculus , respectively) in the North Atlantic Ocean are not fully understood. Although humpbacks have been studied intensively in nearshore or coastal feeding and breeding areas, their migratory movements between these areas have been largely inferred. Blue whales have only been studied intensively along the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and their seasonal occurrence and movements elsewhere in the North Atlantic are poorly known. We investigated the historical seasonal distributions of these two species using sighting and catch data extracted from American 18th and 19th century whaling logbooks. These data suggest that humpback whales migrated seasonally from low‐latitude calving/ breeding grounds over a protracted period, and that some of them traveled far offshore rather than following coastal routes. Also, at least some humpbacks apparently fed early in the summer west of the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge, well south of their known present‐day feeding grounds. In assessing the present status of the North Atlantic humpback population, it will be important to determine whether such offshore feeding does in fact occur. Blue whales were present across the southern half of the North Atlantic during the autumn and winter months, and farther north in spring and summer, but we had too few data points to support inferences about these whales' migratory timing and routes. Article in Journal/Newspaper Balaenoptera musculus Megaptera novaeangliae North Atlantic Wiley Online Library Mid-Atlantic Ridge Marine Mammal Science 20 4 774 786 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Wiley Online Library |
op_collection_id |
crwiley |
language |
English |
topic |
Aquatic Science Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
spellingShingle |
Aquatic Science Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Reeves, Randall R. Smith, Tim D. Josephson, Elizabeth A. Clapham, Phillip J. Woolmer, Gillian HISTORICAL OBSERVATIONS OF HUMPBACK AND BLUE WHALES IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN: CLUES TO MIGRATORY ROUTES AND POSSIBLY ADDITIONAL FEEDING GROUNDS |
topic_facet |
Aquatic Science Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
description |
A bstract The seasonal distributions of humpback and blue whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae and Balaenoptera musculus , respectively) in the North Atlantic Ocean are not fully understood. Although humpbacks have been studied intensively in nearshore or coastal feeding and breeding areas, their migratory movements between these areas have been largely inferred. Blue whales have only been studied intensively along the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and their seasonal occurrence and movements elsewhere in the North Atlantic are poorly known. We investigated the historical seasonal distributions of these two species using sighting and catch data extracted from American 18th and 19th century whaling logbooks. These data suggest that humpback whales migrated seasonally from low‐latitude calving/ breeding grounds over a protracted period, and that some of them traveled far offshore rather than following coastal routes. Also, at least some humpbacks apparently fed early in the summer west of the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge, well south of their known present‐day feeding grounds. In assessing the present status of the North Atlantic humpback population, it will be important to determine whether such offshore feeding does in fact occur. Blue whales were present across the southern half of the North Atlantic during the autumn and winter months, and farther north in spring and summer, but we had too few data points to support inferences about these whales' migratory timing and routes. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Reeves, Randall R. Smith, Tim D. Josephson, Elizabeth A. Clapham, Phillip J. Woolmer, Gillian |
author_facet |
Reeves, Randall R. Smith, Tim D. Josephson, Elizabeth A. Clapham, Phillip J. Woolmer, Gillian |
author_sort |
Reeves, Randall R. |
title |
HISTORICAL OBSERVATIONS OF HUMPBACK AND BLUE WHALES IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN: CLUES TO MIGRATORY ROUTES AND POSSIBLY ADDITIONAL FEEDING GROUNDS |
title_short |
HISTORICAL OBSERVATIONS OF HUMPBACK AND BLUE WHALES IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN: CLUES TO MIGRATORY ROUTES AND POSSIBLY ADDITIONAL FEEDING GROUNDS |
title_full |
HISTORICAL OBSERVATIONS OF HUMPBACK AND BLUE WHALES IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN: CLUES TO MIGRATORY ROUTES AND POSSIBLY ADDITIONAL FEEDING GROUNDS |
title_fullStr |
HISTORICAL OBSERVATIONS OF HUMPBACK AND BLUE WHALES IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN: CLUES TO MIGRATORY ROUTES AND POSSIBLY ADDITIONAL FEEDING GROUNDS |
title_full_unstemmed |
HISTORICAL OBSERVATIONS OF HUMPBACK AND BLUE WHALES IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN: CLUES TO MIGRATORY ROUTES AND POSSIBLY ADDITIONAL FEEDING GROUNDS |
title_sort |
historical observations of humpback and blue whales in the north atlantic ocean: clues to migratory routes and possibly additional feeding grounds |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2004 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2004.tb01192.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1748-7692.2004.tb01192.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2004.tb01192.x |
geographic |
Mid-Atlantic Ridge |
geographic_facet |
Mid-Atlantic Ridge |
genre |
Balaenoptera musculus Megaptera novaeangliae North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Balaenoptera musculus Megaptera novaeangliae North Atlantic |
op_source |
Marine Mammal Science volume 20, issue 4, page 774-786 ISSN 0824-0469 1748-7692 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2004.tb01192.x |
container_title |
Marine Mammal Science |
container_volume |
20 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
774 |
op_container_end_page |
786 |
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1795666209954332672 |